Okay. Blizzard needs to really make Warlock Tanks a 100% reality

So I just popped into a Pinnacle of Storms on LFR when I noticed there was one tank and a pair of mobs separating us from Lei Shen. What do I do? Switch out my specs a bit on my Demonology Warlock and give them a hand. The other tank agreed and we pulled. I did what I could to keep her protected with Fury Ward on the Thunder Lord while the other tank kept the Lightning Guardian at bay. In the end, we were able to successfully down both mobs. And great timing, the new tank comes on in.

Seriously. I really think Blizzard needs to take Warlock Tanking seriously and implement it as a legit tanking spec for a future patch/expansion.

So I just popped into a Pinnacle of Storms on LFR when I noticed there was one tank and a pair of mobs separating us from Lei Shen. What do I do? Switch out my specs a bit on my Demonology Warlock and give them a hand. The other tank agreed and we pulled. I did what I could to keep her protected with Fury Ward on the Thunder Lord while the other tank kept the Lightning Guardian at bay. In the end, we were able to successfully down both mobs. And great timing, the new tank comes on in.

Seriously. I really think Blizzard needs to take Warlock Tanking seriously and implement it as a legit tanking spec for a future patch/expansion.

or we could have Warlock tanking become a reality through the glyphing interface that trades damage for survivability passively so it's not super op in pvp but viable in pve.

I hate the argument "just roll a tank", I have played all 4 tanking classes (pre-monk) at level cap at least a little bit, and have a druid dk and warrior at level cap atm all which can tank (and a paladin that's almost 90), but my warlock is still my favorite to tank stuff on because the mechanics are just more fun I think.

edit: another thing is, if warlocks were given the 6% crit immunity and just a slight bit more passive damage reduction, they'd be as viable as any other tank.

I would love it. Wouldn't be that hard to do. Just make it so Spellpower converts to Armour or something like that, give us crit immunity and you're half way there. Making them a viable end-game raiding tank might not be possible but for 5-mans, why not?

---------- Post added 2013-06-17 at 11:42 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Rivio

but I don't want to be a tank.

You don't have to be. Warriors, monks, DKs, druids and paladins don't have to be tanks either.

He's the lead class designer. He does make all the decisions, that's literally exactly what lead class designer means.

No, he doesn't make all of the decisions.

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In terms of class balance? He may not literally be involved in every little tiny decision, but anything as large as adding a new spec to a class, he's the #1 guy in charge of it. He's the one who says yes or no to Warlock tanks, and as far as we know he's saying no.

Something like Lead Systems Designer being his title, not Class Designer.
There was a post recently, which I was unable to find at present which stated exactly what it is Greg Street was responsible for.
And I am pretty sure that class balance was NOT one of those things.

Whatever pies he may have his finger in, he is one person and not the sole person responsible for those decisions players dislike.

He simply chose to try and communicate those decisions, get more feedback and communication with the community than the game ever had at any earlier stage.
He chose to give an insight to an ungrateful and whiny community which really was not deserving of that effort in the first place.

Prior to him, really how much notice was there of such drastic changes. How many blogs were there describing them. You pretty much saw them in almost finalised patch notes and were then asked to give feedback on a largely complete feature rather than at much earlier stages.

Now back OT:
Warlock tanks are not necessary, not filling some imaginary need.
Any tank shortage is purely community driven, which is perfectly demonstrated by the remaining or arguably increasing lack of them despite a tanking spec being offered by the hero class which had a huge chunk of its levelling process removed.
Yet tanks are as unpopular to play as they have ever been, because people do not like the community problems that come with the role.

Two new tanking classes did not increase the number of people playing tanks. How would a third help?

How would it hurt?

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OP: I'm sure there were plenty of other classes in your raid that could've swapped gear and tanked fine. Just because Warlocks can tank certain things doesn't mean they should be able to tank everything.

I kind of feel that fights like Maulgar, Leotheras and Illidan have spoiled warlocks a bit. I mean, it's been quite a while since we've had a proper "warlock tank" fight, but those 3 fights basically cemented, in the minds of the community, warlocks as a special kind of tank. Sure, it was great feeling... like we had a very unique role in the raid, but we haven't had any fights since Illidan where we were pretty much expected to fill that role.

Don't get me wrong... I love tanking. That's why I made my paladin. Warlocks would need a whole new toolkit and it'd just be another spec to balance against the rest of the specs. There's just no need for it.

Side note: If they did give us a proper tank spec, I'd probably main my warlock again and do nothing but tank